Silver Age Soap: Captain America

People say that in the past, comic book heroes were more stoic, solid heroic types who never let their personal problems get the better of them. They say that modern heroes are too prone to letting their emotions take over, to whining and moaning about every little thing. Possibly this is true if you're comparing today's comics to those of sixty years ago. However, forty years ago, during the Silver Age, heroes had plenty of drama, and many moments of anguished self-absorption. And Marvel's Stan Lee was the master of this Silver Age angst.

And no one had more of it than Captain America. First came Stan's decision to retroactively kill off sidekick Bucky, which led not only to guilt but to the constant fear of losing anyone else he might grow close to, particularly girlfriend Sharon Carter and new teenage sometime-partner Rick Jones. Add to that all the "man out of time" issues and a certain amount of normal trauma related to war memories, and Cap was a great candidate for any number of angst-laden monologues.

The biggest source of angst for Cap in the Silver Age, as indeed for Cap throughout most of his post-revival career, was of course the death of Bucky. And if Cap wasn't miserable enough due to his own obsessive thoughts, there were always plenty of opportunities to be reminded of it. For example, the many miles of newsreel footage featuring Cap and Bucky in action during the war.



And then there were the nightmares.



It didn't help much that Rick Jones was itching to take on the sidekick role. For a long time, Cap refused to let him wear the costume, although he did accompany him on a number of missions in civilian clothing. Here we see Rick giving Cap a piece of his mind, in an unusually astute analysis:



After this, Cap finally allowed Rick to don the costume and join him as a full partner, at least for a while.

Oh, I do have to mention that this wasn't the first time Rick tried this little trick. Several years earlier, in a remarkably similar scene, Rick had done exactly the same thing. Unfortunately for him, that time he wasn't quite as prepared for Cap's reaction.



When it wasn't Bucky (and, by extension, Rick) on his mind, Cap would worry about the safety of SHIELD-agent girlfriend Sharon.



And, just for a little variety, he would occasionally just angst about his place (or lack of one) in the modern era:



Yep, Silver Age Cap was seriously messed up. He did mellow some over time, and has by now regained a fair amount of his Golden Age stoicism. (Or had, before his recent death.) However, he still hadn't managed to solve what he knew even then was one of his biggest problems: